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Long oval-shaped box with woman, building, and flowers

This long, narrow box has rounded edges. On the top side of the box is a medium-skinned, dark-haired woman in a pink dress and wide-brimmed hat. She also appears in smaller scale at the bottom of the box. Trees with birds sitting in them occupy the top of this side of the box, and flower bushes surround the lower image of the woman. The box's sides show views of a tan building surrounded by trees and pink flower details. The entire box is glossy with a yellow tinge. One end of the box has a cutaway portion, creating a cap.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.339
People
Lutf `Ali Shirazi
Title
Pen Box with European Women and Birds in a Landscape
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
1856-1857
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Shiraz
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351826

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
3 × 3.3 × 21.6 cm (1 3/16 × 1 5/16 × 8 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:
    رقم کمترین لوظفعلي ۱۲۷۳

    Painted by the most humble Lutf `Ali 1856-57

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014.

Note:
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of A. Soudavar in memory of his mother Ezzat-Malek Soudavar
Accession Year
2014
Object Number
2014.339
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format with a young girl in European dress and an apron full of flowers. A smaller female with an apron full of flowers arranges flowers in her hair at the bottom. A spotted dog sits at her feet. The figures are surrounded by flowers and bird-filled trees against a light brown ground. The sides are virtually identical, with an architectural vignette enclosed by trees and flowers in the center; on either side of the vignette, a floral spray extends to the ends. The base and sliding compartment are decorated with trees, shrubs, and buildings painted in gold on a red background.

Publication History

  • Basil William Robinson, Qajar Lacquer, Muqarnas (1988), vol. VI, pp. 131-146, fig. 17
  • Massumeh Farhad and Mary McWilliams, ed., A Collector’s Passion: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar and Persian Lacquer, Harvard Art Museums and Freer/Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution (Cambridge, MA/Washington, D.C., 2017), p. 128, cat. 87

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu